Title: Between II - The Long Walk 4/10

Author: ebonbird (ebonbird@hotmail.com)

Rating: PG

Summary: This is the sequel to "Between" which is

available @ http://ebonbird.tripod.com/stories.htm.

Though based upon episodes 89-104 of Gatchaman I this

story only loosely follows those events.

Contributing tunes: Time Has Come Today - The Chambers

Brothers; Pusher Man - Curtis Mayfield; Spanish Eyes - Back

Street Boys; Never Can Say Goodbye - Jackson Five; All I

Want - Angel Moon; Plenty - Sarah McLachlan; Mighty Love -

The Spinners; Gymnopedie 1, 2 and 3 - Eric Satie; Could I Be

Your Girl - Jann Arden; Ooh Child - The 5 Stairsteps; Paint It

Black - The Rolling Stones.

Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. They

are used without permission. Tatsunuko, Co. Leave me

be, this is flattery.

Comments & Criticism: yes, please.



Thanks to BeckyD, Lori McDonald, Naa Dei-Nikoi, John

Duffin, Sal, Stephanie Wilson, Wildcat & Kim Wylie

for beta-reading and encouragement.





******************

4.





Joe skipped the debriefing.



His teammates surrounded him in a staggered diamond

formation as they descended God Phoenix's ramp. Jun

leading, Ryu bringing up the rear, wing capes swaying in

unison over legs walking in unison, breathing in unison.

They were the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, five

acting as one, but when Jun and Jinpei turned to the

right, Joe went left.



Ken grabbed his shoulder. "What are you doing?"



Jun and Jinpei were already twisting around, slick as

chorus line girls, their wings sweeping out behind them.

Jun had her mouth to her wristband, ready to speak. As

did Jinpei. Jun bit her lip, lowered her hand to waist,

thumb and forefinger touching at the tip, the rest of her

fingers curled. Joe looked away first, then shrugged Ken

off. Ryu caught Joe's arm in one huge hand before he

went completely off balance.



"The infirmary," Joe said.



"Infirmary?" Ken echoed.



"He means the clinic, maybe," said Ryu.



"Following your orders, Commander," Joe said and

patted Ryu's hand. Ryu let go. Joe walked towards the

infirmary without a backward glance.



Joe was too far away to hear what Ken said into his

wristband, but Joe knew that he was under at least two

types of surveillance as he cleared the hangar.



In the infirmary he signed in and Told Lu (Xiao-Chen, not

Kelly O'Shane-) that he needed to see Dr. Saavedra, or

whoever was around, now. Out of perversity, he filled in

the sheet for walk-in and wrote 'full diagnostic' in the

reason space and 'worried commander' in the complaint.

For a moment Joe couldn't see where to sign his name,

his uncovered eye going milky cotton sight on him. He

squinted, blinked and glimpsed a hail of broken masonry.



He'd been seeing things off and on since the night before

last. Joe wondered how much that had to do with lack of

sleep and his head injuries.



Lu smiled at Joe when she took the clipboard and put it

atop her desk. At the end of the day she would enter all

that information into the clinic dataset and compare it

with the day's encounter forms.



Joe went to the bathroom, pissed and shit into the

appropriate containers. Placed the containers in the metal

cabinet built into the wall. Returned to the waiting room.

Joe sat facing Lu. Leaned his head against the wall,

crossed his arms, and shut his eye. He must have fallen

asleep because the ringing phone startled him awake.

His eye slit open before he remembered that he was

waiting to see a doctor. Lu wasn't at the desk. The

phone rang again. The door behind the desk opened,

revealing Lu. She grinned at Joe, removed her earring

and picked up the phone with her neat square hand. Lu

had very plain hands, but she loved red polish. Cardinal

red, to match her lips and the streaks in her light hair.

He'd painted her toenails once, on their first of three dates.



Yes, Dr. Nambu, Joe lip-read. Yes, Dr. Nambu, he's right

here. Would you like to speak to him? No? Any messages?

No? Have a nice day, Dr. Nambu.



Joe went in and spoke to Dr. Ruriko Saavedra, just

pleasantries. They'd dated a little bit when she was an

ISO sponsored resident and he was still training. He

asked her out (again). Saavedra declined. He spent five

minutes being funny and charming enough that she

laughed herself silent.



Lifting her clipboard in her hands, Dr. Saavedra gave Joe

a meaningful look. He removed his helmet. She was in

his space so fast his hands were up, warding her away.

Saavedra pushed his head up, and tsked.



Rolling his uncovered eye, Joe complained about savage

headaches and nightmares and falling off of the flight

couch while not wearing his helmet. The good doctor's

chin dimpled. Joe couldn't remember if she did that when

she concentrated or when she was angry. She examined

it with her little opthalmascope. The intense light caused

him no discomfort.



"You're lucky you didn't scratch your cornea. Your gloves

are filthy, the skin around your eye is severely abraded,

and you're concussed."



"How bad?"



"No worse than usual. I have to cleanse the skin you

irritated. Your eye's going to water a little from the fumes.

Don't blink."



It burned like hell, and his eye started itching like crazy.

Saavedra slapped a cool patch on it. It felt good.



Joe peeled out of the top of his suit, slooked off one

sweaty sleeve cocked his arm at the elbow. She got out a

couple of vacuum tubes found a decent vein, and drew

blood. When she was finished, she made a face at him.

And he snorted, picking up a cotton ball and slapping it to

the puncture.



Dr. Saavedra, Ruri to him once, stepped away from him.

"Go ahead and change," she said. "I'll be back in a

minute." But was back in eleven. Sat down by the sink

and asked what had prompted him to come in, pen

ticking off all the symptoms and complaints to which he

lied 'no'. Of course he said 'yes' to headaches and dizzy

spells and let her think that they were stress-related.

Which they were, and he did have a record of those.



Chuckling when she reached his scrawled 'worried

commander' Saavedra looked at him seriously. "Your

urine checks out. So does the stool. Soonest we could

get results on anything besides your blood work would be

tomorrow. Scans and X-rays, all that can wait until

tomorrow."



"S' great." Joe tore off his robe.



"We'll start at five, which gives you time to rest."



Joe reached for his civvies. "Five tomorrow morning?"



"Yes. You'll sleep here. We'll start by monitoring your

sleep patterns, today."



"Sleep patterns?"



"You had a seizure, Joe. You're going to have to stay in

for observation."



"Can I at least get something to eat?"



"Of course. Tell me what you want and I'll send

someone."



Joe put his hands behind him on the examining table

and, leaned against the edge, he let his shoulders slump,

put all his weariness in his voice. "Ruri, I wanna stretch

my legs. You're gonna have me in here for the next two

days, right?"



Ruriko Saavedra let him go.



He left the clinic, just one more ISO employee coming out

of the medical offices.



Jinpei resumed surveillance.



Joe let the kid follow for a while. Got some coffee from

the commissary and a pack of cigarettes. Camels

unfiltered. He headed out for the loading bay, flashing his

security clearance, sat on the landing, legs dangling over

the edge. Broke two matches before managing to light

the cigarette.



Joe only smoked half. Re-entered the building. Started

walking, head down, hands in his pockets, until he

reached a spot where it was only he and Jinpei in the

corridors.



Joe turned a corner, stayed.



Jinpei came around at the same speed, and was

prepared, aiming for Joe's solar plexus with a single bolo-

ball, and following through with a foot to Joe's kidneys.



Joe pushed Jinpei through the motion, had him up

against the wall before Jinpei knew it, upside down and

screaming against Joe's hand. "I don't have time for this

shit. And I'm sorry." Joe growled, and hugged the kid,

hard. Then knocked him out. He lay Jinpei on the ground,

arranging his short limbs so he wouldn't be stiff when he

woke.



"You didn't have to do that."



Joe whirled, shuriken in his hand. Jun stood in her whites

and pinks, the avenging Swan. "Give him to me."



Joe backed away.



"Give him to me!"



There was an ultra bright flash and Joe stood before her

as the condor, feather shuriken in his hand.



"Why are you doing this?" Jun asked.



Joe made no move, no answer.



Kneeling next to Jinpei, checking him over, Jun spoke,

"You never went for a single diagnostic, let alone two."



"The first time they checked me out they said it was all in

my head."



Jun was cradling her adopted brother, pressing her cheek

against his little face. "You didn't have to hurt him."



"It's only a nerve pinch. I didn't want to."



Her expression turned ugly. She hugged the kid tighter.



"Just go."



"If I go in for observation, I'm never coming out. I can't die

in a hospital."



"You didn't even try, Joe."



"Go to my trailer-"



"I hacked your records."



"--under the sink, on a hook, is a safety deposit box key.

First Integrated Island Bank. It's all there. I'm not dying in

a hospital. And I'm not going out without taking a piece of

Galactor with me."



"You didn't even try!"



"My parents ---"



She screamed. Joe had put Jinpei so far under that the

kid didn't even twitch.



"They have to be avenged! I have to be avenged!"



Jun lurched to her feet, struggling with Jinpei's dead

weight, "Go, already! I fixed it so the alarm won't sound

for eight minutes after you leave! Get out of my face. Do

what you have to do -- go die!"



Reeling, turning on his heel, Joe fled.







******************



end 4/10







"I hate women who say pretty=stupid.

They're really misogynistic men in drag."

~~~BeckyD



ebonbird's fan fic cache http://ebonbird.tripod.com

the storm archive http://ebonbird.tripod.com/stormarchive.html





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